Over PLN 1.1 million in funding for UPWr scientists under the SONATINA 5 program

SONATINA is a competition organised by the National Science Centre (NCN) for projects carried out by young researchers holding a doctorate for no longer than three years. The competition supports the careers of young scientists, creating opportunities for full-time employment and research in Poland. It also helps them gain knowledge and experience during internships at foreign research centres.

The National Science Centre allocated PLN 20 million for implementing the projects of this year's winners. The aim of the project, coordinated by Dr. Piotr Biniarz from the Department of Biotechnology and Food Microbiology, which received PLN 1 123 440 in funding, is to find previously unknown microorganisms that can break down various plastics.

Plastic pollution is the cause of one of the greatest environmental disasters faced by humanity today. Tons of plastic floating on the surface of the oceans, as well as plastic waste on the ground, are polluting our ecosystem. However, the smallest plastic particles, with a diameter of less than 5 millimetres, i.e. microplastics, are particularly dangerous. The most common sources are estimated to be from car tyres, synthetic clothing fibers, microgranular shower gels, and supposedly-innocent glitter, which can all accumulate not only in living organisms inhabiting water bodies, such as bacteria, plankton or fish, but also in the human body. The long-term effects of microplastic accumulation have not yet been properly studied. However, scientists are sure about one thing – they are negative.

Plastic decomposes under natural conditions from a hundred to a thousand years, depending on the type. It has recently been discovered that some microorganisms can produce enzymes that break down plastic, and while the species found so far are not efficient enough, scientists hope that there are many microorganisms capable of creating more efficient enzymes that have not yet been discovered.

The team of Dr. Piotr Biniarz from the UPWr intends to collect and examine samples from various environments to find as-of-yet unknown microorganisms that decompose different types of plastic, such as nylon, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, polyurethane, polyethylene or polypropylene. – To do this, we plan to develop new methods of analysis that will let us quickly and cheaply search for sequences encoding enzymes that will break down plastic directly in the genomes of microorganisms – explains Dr. Biniarz.

Since the microorganisms that naturally break down plastic are usually inefficient, for the next stage of the project the team plans to clone their enzymes into fast-growing Yarrowia lipolytica yeast, which will be capable of both producing enzymes efficiently and growing directly on waste or municipal sewage, cleaning it of microplastic.

The final part of the project involves the optimisation of cultivation conditions and testing of various additives for cultivation, increasing the effectiveness of microorganisms and enzymes that break down plastic. – We not only want to detect and identify at least a dozen new microorganisms and enzymes that break down plastic, but we also plan to create at least a few Y. lipolytica mutants that will efficiently break down plastic particles – emphasises Dr. Piotr Biniarz.

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